Clubs had never been his thing, something most people found strange with him being an idol. Avoiding crowded places had always come naturally to him, with even the slightest touch of skin allowing his mind to be flooded by thoughts that were not his own. That was until recently, until he'd found a way of blocking it all out. Now he felt like he'd been reborn, moulded into something lighter, far more resilient. The old Yohan wasn't gone, but all of his insecurities were.

They'd asked him to meet them there for a celebration, so there he was, a few hours late, but there nonetheless. He leaned against the bar and pulled out his phone, wanting to check where exactly they were when he spotted them. Of course, they wouldn't be alone, not when the point of the night had been to come out and have fun.

Weaving his way through the tables set out over the bar area of the club he waved over at her, smiling at the way her face lit up. She'd already texted him about the birthday girl being fall-down drunk and Ree abandoning them for a hot body. There was nothing new about that, well, he didn't know the young reception well, but Ree was being true to her nature.

Ree had been a dancer at the first company he'd signed with, the one person who always managed to make him feel like he was more than just a splotch of talent painted onto the company's walls. She'd been one of the few people he felt comfortable around, even if she never pried too deep. Close as he'd been to her, he could never bring himself to share his secret self with her. They stayed in contact even after he'd left and signed with a new company.

Aerin was someone she'd introduced him to when he was looking for artwork for his manor four months ago. It had been derelict when he bought it, run down to the point he considered having it levelled and rebuilt. But there was something charming about it too, something he knew could not be replicated. Over two years of restoration and it was nearly complete. He'd commissioned a few pieces from Aerin's gallery, her style the perfect contrast to the otherwise gothic setting of his home. They'd hit it off as friends right from the moment they met, so here he was coming to celebrate the birthday of a girl he barely knew with them.

He didn't pay much attention to the men at the table at first, leaning in to peck Aerin on the cheek before gesturing toward the girl slumped over in her chair. "How would you have gotten her home if I hadn't come?" he said close to her ear. 

"I knew you would." She beamed over at Yohan before turning to the man beside her. "Oh, this is Junho. He's the one who invited us over so she didn't break any barstools on her way to meeting the floor."

Yohan turned to shake Junho's hand, his smile faltering as he took in the man who was deeply engrossed in his phone standing up from the table. There was a reason he'd been avoiding his usual hangout spots over the past half-year. And it was the same reason he could now hear his racing heart over the thumping of the club music.

"Jaejin?" The name left his lips before he could stop it.

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He was about to step away from the table to make a call when the sound of his name being spoken from somewhere behind him stabbed at his heart like a shard of ice. He recognised the voice immediately, how could he not? Jiwon frowned up at him, a look of confusion in his eyes, a look that said without saying that his interest was piqued. He could've ignored it, but that would only have looked more suspicious to the two friends looking between him and the man who'd just showed up. He turned back slowly, jaw clenched, a feeling he refused to acknowledge settling uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach.

"Yohan." He nodded in the man's direction, not quite looking up at him, yet he could feel the tension between them grow with every eye at the table on them.

Why did it have to be a moment when they were all together? Why was Yohan even there? His question was answered seconds later.

"I asked my driver to wait out front, so take your time. There's no rush," he said looking down at Aerin, already lifting the drunk girl out of her seat and refusing help from her.

They continued to talk for about a minute more, but Jaejin stopped listening, his eyes remaining on a spot on the wall somewhere behind Jiwon, refusing to turn and look at the man who had his heart fluttering after he'd given up any hope of it ever being revived again. He could feel Yohan's eyes still on him, in fact, he could feel everyone at the table staring at him.

Jaejin turned to look at the woman who was still staring at him after Yohan had walked off with her drunken friend, every bit of his frustration directed at her. "Shouldn't you be making sure your drunken friend gets home safely? Or can't you leave until you've scored for the night? That is after all what women like you do in a place like this." He noticed her flinch at his words before looking back at Jiwon, dismissing her before she could respond. "Make sure Yoon has a ride home. I'm leaving."

He made his way through the throngs of Friday night revellers, both head and heart a rioting mess. 

"Yah! Asshole!"

The sound of a woman's voice arrested him just as he stepped away from the entrance to the club. He knew that voice even after hearing it only a few times, it was quite distinctive. He bit his bottom lip in an effort to keep from smiling, from her tone he suspected that wouldn't go over well with her. This could be fun.

He turned slowly, a hand raking through his hair as he looked around. "You're talking to me, I shall assume."

"Who else would I be talking to? Who do you think you are to be so presumptuous? You think you can go around insulting women and treating them like objects for you to toy with?"

He took one step towards her, eyes fixed in confusion on her hands as they struggled with the buckle of her shoe.

"You owe me an apology, jerk. Right now or you'll get a heel to the head." She sounded livid and it amused him.

"And what will I be apologising for, Miss? For refusing to take advantage of a drunken girl who was about to throw herself at me? Or for not showing an interest in her little less drunk friend? Or for being concerned about her getting home safely without a guardian?" He raised a quizzical brow at her. "Or was it something else I did that offended you?"

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Some of what he said made sense in her head, but she was not ready to let it go, not yet. She needed her anger. She wielded the shoe like a weapon, pointing it at him as he took another step closer to her. There was obvious tension in his muscles, like a coiled snake being held back by the swaying of its charmer.

This man made her both nervous and left her buzzing with excitement at the same time. Her experience with men – albeit that her experience amounted to only one man – had soured her to feeling anything for anyone romantically, yet there was a strange yearning deep inside of her when she looked at this man in the dark suit. But he was an egotistical elitist who made no secret that he thought himself better than all of them. That much could not be denied.

"You patted her on the head like a dog and told her she was pretty. I personally could do without your interest, but it's her birthday." She could feel herself flush with the heat of her own anger, his smugness only fuelling it more. "I did not come here to score like you assumed I did. And... and that arrogance you carry yourself with infuriates me. You, sir, are rude..." she said as she stepped closer, hitting his shoulder with the heel of her shoe. And she had to admit, it made her feel better.

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He stood quietly listening to her, slightly amused, wondering if she'd be threatening a stranger that way, shoe in hand, if she hadn't been drinking. His slight flinch when her shoe struck was more out of surprise than pain, making him look between his shoulder and the woman he'd apparently offended.

"You hit me. And you're calling me rude?" His eyes narrowed as he took another step closer, backing her slowly against the wall behind her and looking down at her. "Firstly, I happen to love dogs, so it's a compliment when I treat you like one. And calling her pretty was impolite? Should I rather have mentioned that her mascara was starting to smudge or that I found drunk women extremely off-putting? And what you call my arrogance was merely my disinterest. Would you like me to list everything I was disinterested in?"

Her eyes darted nervously to somewhere behind him as if she were waiting on someone to step in and save her from the mess she'd created for herself.

Jaejin leaned in closer, his face a mere breath away from hers, feeling her body tense even without touching her. "You come to one of the hottest hook-up spots in the city looking like that and you expect anyone to believe you weren't trying to score?" He moved in even closer as he spoke, close enough to feel her breath against his lips. "I don't mind following you home, so it won't be a wasted night for you. Just say the word, sweetheart... my rude arrogance is something you'll be remembering for a long time. I guarantee it." He winked at her before leaning back slightly and taking the shoe from her hand. "Allow me..." he went down onto one knee to put her shoe back on, not waiting on her to react to his words.

He'd half expected it, so her foot lifting and shoving him back came as no surprise. He made no effort to keep himself from falling back onto the concrete sidewalk, moving to rest on his elbows as he looked up at her. What kind of self-respecting woman would allow herself to be treated that way by any man, more so a stranger? His eyes fixed on hers as she leaned over him to take her shoe from his hand, watching the emotions flit across them – outrage, anger, confusion, curiosity too, with a slight hint of desire she was clearly trying hard to contain. He wasn't sure if it was the way the streetlights reflected off them, but her eyes seemed different, softer, almost making him regret some of the things he'd said to her.

"I hope you enjoy the rest of your night." Her breath ghosted his lips as she spoke before turning to walk away unsteadily, one shoe still clutched in her hand.

A soft smile curved his lips as he watched her make her way toward the black sedan parked across the road, completely oblivious to the passers-by staring strangely at the man in the expensive suit sprawled comfortably on the sidewalk outside the club. He laughed as the car pulled away, shaking his head slowly and getting to his feet and dusting himself off.

The woman named Aerin could count herself lucky he didn't know where to find her, or he would've been showing up at her door before the night was out. Or maybe that made her unlucky. 

Word-Count - 2004